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Between 1825 and 1835, John Martin reached the height of his career and prosperity. Always in the best company, he was handsome, well-dressed, vociferous yet charming, despite his somewhat radical stance. His studio was visited by royalty, and he counted as friends many of the leading authors, poets, artists, scientists, politicians and theologians of the day, including Romanticist landscape painters John Constable and J.M.W. Turner, scientists Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday, twice British Prime Minister and founder of the Metropolitan Police Force Sir Robert Peel, author Charles Dickens, and the Shelleys (Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe and novelist Mary, author of ‘Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus’). He rose to the situation provided by his increasing fame throughout Europe and became renowned throughout London for his genial and generous hospitality.